The present invention relates to an industrial process for the high-rate manufacture of remote-detectable devices used in particular as anti-theft devices but also as devices for carrying information, namely so-called xe2x80x9ctraceabilityxe2x80x9d devices associated with means for stoppering and covering containers such as bottles, flasks, pots and other similar packagings for drinks and other food products, cosmetic products, etc.
The problem of theft, particularly in xe2x80x9cself-servicexe2x80x9d sales outlets arises especially in the case of articles of relatively high value such as certain alcoholic drinks (wines, spirits), or alternatively beauty products.
In general, the fight against the theft of products in xe2x80x9cself-servicexe2x80x9d sales outlets is currently provided, with increasing frequency, by the use of devices which can be detected remotely either by an electromagnetic or by a radiofrequency route, these often being known as xe2x80x9celectronic tagsxe2x80x9d, but which can consist simply of metal filaments. These devices are detected automatically as they are passed through the pay desks or on leaving the store, setting off an alarm if they have not been deactivated. Furthermore, in the case of devices involving an electronic chip, which can store varying amounts of various kinds of information, it is possible to obtain so-called xe2x80x9cintelligentxe2x80x9d tags capable of identifying the packaged product, so as to attest to its authenticity, provide traceability, and supply various items of information relating to this product, for example its production date or its xe2x80x9cbest beforexe2x80x9d date or simply its identification reference (as a replacement for a conventional bar code).
In the particular case of containers, such as bottles, it has proved advantageous to incorporate the electronic tags or the filaments with an anti-theft and/or identification function, into the stoppering or covering means customarily fitted to these containers. Thus, French patent No. 2703659 and the corresponding European patent No. 0619243, in the name of the Applicant, describe, in particular, the possibility of applying a detectable means, forming an anti-theft device, under a cap used to stopper a bottle, or to a disk-shaped gasket, itself housed under the cap. Instead of integrating said detectable means into the container stopper, it is also conceivable for it to be concealed in a covering element in the form of a sleeve, generally known as an xe2x80x9couter coverxe2x80x9d which is also fairly customarily fitted to bottles containing alcoholic beverages (wines, sparkling wines, etc.). By way of example, reference may here also be made to French patent application No. 2754248 and to the corresponding international patent application No. WO 9815469.
At the present time, the detectable means, whether these be electronic tags or simple filaments, are becoming increasingly miniaturized, which means that it is envisagable for their use to be generalized, particularly to stoppering members even of a small diameter. However, the current processes used to produce the stoppering or covering means equipped individually with such detectable means are still themselves fairly expensive, and of low output, which explains why the use of such detectable means is, for the time being, reserved for relatively expensive products, for which they represent only a small fraction of the overall cost, thus making their use economically viable.
The present invention sets out to avoid these drawbacks by providing a high-performance process for the manufacture of anti-theft devices and the like associated with stoppering and covering means, such as those mentioned hereinabove.
To this end, the process according to the invention essentially consists in unwinding a material in web form and causing it to travel along in a predetermined direction, in depositing at least one detectable means such as a filament or an oriented-particles film or an electronic tag in continuous or discontinuous form, on this web-form material, this or these detectable means running or following on from one another in the direction of travel of the web-form material, and in cutting said web-form material according to the singular or plural detectable means deposited on it so as to separate individual elements, each equipped with a detectable means such as a filament or an oriented-particles film or an electronic tag, and themselves constituting stoppering or covering means or parts of such means.
Thus, the invention affords a xe2x80x9ccontinuousxe2x80x9d manufacturing process allowing the high-rate production of stoppering or covering means equipped with detectable devices of the electronic tag or oriented-particles film or filament or similar type.
According to a first embodiment of this process, suited to detectable devices in the form of filaments, at least one continuous filament is unwound at the same time as the web-form material, this filament being deposited and fixed, for example by adhesive bonding, to said web-form material in the direction in which the latter travels, and elements which, once separated, each comprise a length of filament are cut in succession from this web-form material.
Advantageously, two or more continuous filaments are unwound and deposited here simultaneously, in parallel lines, on the same traveling web-form material, and transverse rows of two or more elements are cut in succession from this web-form material according to the number and position of the filaments so that each of these elements, once separated, comprises a length of filament. This embodiment in particular makes it possible to obtain, at a high rate, disk-shaped gaskets for stoppering caps, these gaskets each being equipped with a length of filament arranged across a diameter.
According to an alternative form of the process that is the subject of the invention, at least one continuous tape, preferably an adhesive tape, is unwound at the same time as the web-form material, this tape bearing separate detectable devices such as electronic tags, antennas or discontinuous lengths of filament at regular intervals, the or each tape is deposited on the web-form material in the direction in which the latter travels, and elements which, once separated, each comprise a detectable device such as an electronic tag, antenna or length of filament are cut in succession from this web-form material.
In this last instance, two or more continuous tapes, each of which bears separate detectable devices such as electronic tags, antennas or lengths of filament at regular intervals are also advantageously unwound and deposited in parallel lines on the traveling web-form material, and transverse rows of two or more elements are cut in succession from this web-form material according to the number and position of the tapes, so that each of these elements, once separated, comprises a detectable device such as an electronic tag, antenna or length of filament.
To produce covering means of the xe2x80x9couter coverxe2x80x9d kind, each equipped with a detectable device, it is, however, preferable to unwind and deposit a single continuous filament or a single continuous tape bearing separate detectable devices such as electronic tags, antennas or lengths of filament at regular intervals on the traveling web-form material, and the web-form material is chalked along transverse lines, preferably slightly curved lines, so as to separate elements each of which comprises a length of filament, an electronic tag or an antenna, each element thus isolated then being rolled up on itself to form the sleeve-shaped part of a covering means of the xe2x80x9couter coverxe2x80x9d kind which will thus be equipped with a detectable device, particularly an anti-theft device, for example in the form of a filament arranged along a generatrix.
According to another embodiment of the process that is the subject of the present invention, separate detectable devices such as electronic tags, antennas or lengths of filament are deposited in succession on the traveling web-form material and elements of the inner seal type, each comprising a detectable device such as an electronic tag, an antenna or a length of filament are then cut in succession from this web-form material according to the detectable devices deposited. The process of the invention may thus be implemented on a press used for cutting out heat-sealable inner seals, of a known type, requiring only a limited amount of adaptation, an apparatus of the labeling machine kind being used here to affix the detectable devices, such as electronic tags, in turn. Insofar as the web-form material is pre-printed with designs which correspond to the figure inner seals, the assembly allows identification for positioning the detectable devices according to the printing on the web-form material and therefore according to the positions of the inner seals that are to be cut from this web-form material. The detectable devices are thus deposited in good alignment with the future cuts that are to correspond to the inner seals with anti-theft device that are to be obtained.
In its entirety, the process that is the subject of the invention makes is possible, using the same principle and with simple adaptations, to manufacture various types of stoppering and covering means individually equipped with detectable means constituting, in particular, anti-theft devices and/or traceability devices.